The Bishop
by AngeloftheMorning1978
Summary: WARNING! EROTICA! As a hit-man for secret agency, Arthur is sent to assassinate Ariadne. But he soon falls in love with his target and starts to protect her. Sending the wrath of his powerful former employers down on both of them.
1. Chapter 1

**The Bishop**

1.

_ 'Bring me her heart.' The queen purred to the huntsman. 'Bring me the heart of Snow White and you will be rewarded.'_

_ The huntsman stood trembling before the terrible beauty of the queen. _

_ Her cold eyes, fair skin and rich lips belied her cruelty. _

_'My queen,' the huntsman stammered 'She had gone into the dark forest. She is surely dead. Nothing can survive in that place.'_

_ The queen narrowed her eyes at the huntsman. He caught his breath as his blood turned to ice._

_'Bring me the heart of Snow White, Huntsman. Or it is **you** who will surely die.' She hissed. _

* * *

~ "Her name is Ariadne. Her code name is 'The Bishop'." Mal said as she walked lazily around the large table.

Arthur pretended only the vaguest of interest. He glanced at her file, catching her age, and her value to her team.

"She's an Architect? How come this is the first I'm hearing about her?" Arthur asked.

"Because her so called Team recruited her before she finished school. She is supposedly highly gifted." Mal said angrily. "My ex husband had snapped her off of some campus in Paris two years ago and has been teaching her dream extractions ever since.

The pretty woman looked annoyed at the simple question the Point Man asked.

Arthur worked for Mal and her secretive organization know only as **Shade**. It was his job to find targets, extract information from them by way of dreams, and in many cases, eliminate the targets.

"The good news is, we found where they were hiding. It wasn't easy, the four of them move around a lot." Mal said maliciously.

Arthur looked over the file. In black and white, were the pictures of Cobb, Mal's ex husbandand, the others. Cobb was a man who knew how to extract secrets, but refused to do so under any government alliance. He worked as a rouge. For whatever agency or private individual paid him the most.

This was unacceptable to Mal.

"I see our people have already found their Forger." Arthur sighed.

Mal chuckled.

"Yes, a little man named Hays. He was barely under in the dreams before he gave them all up. Our extractors gained everything you could ever want to know about the Bishop." Mal said

Arthur looked over Ariadne's file. An orphaned girl at sixteen. Attending a prestigious school of design in Paris on a full scholarship. He sucked in his breath at reaching her black and white photograph.

Her face was singularly beautiful. Like something from the story books his mother read to him as a child.

"So what is it you need?" Arthur asked.

"The Bishop escaped before our men could locate her. Most likely Cobb helped her before they separated. She speaks English and French. She had traveled most of Europe, but never improvised. She'll most likely try to pass herself off as a student back packer." Mal told him.

"Mal, no bull shit." Arthur said curtly.

She turned lazily to him and smiled a Cheshire cat grin.

"What is it you need me to do?" Arthur asked.

"Find her. Extract all information you can on her, and kill her." Mal told him.

"You don't want to try and bring her in? She's young. Apparently very talented. Might be worth it to recruit her." Arthur offered.  
"I thought about that." Mal said carelessly. "But I could never trust her. She's most likely been fucking my husband and I cant have that."

Arthur winced at the profanity. He didn't like it when women swore.

"Her last known location was in Finland?" Arthur asked in shock. "Awful cold this time of year."

"Then you better get going, Arthur." Mal told him with an acid tone.

* * *

~ Arthur kept his so called home effortlessly clean. He prided himself on how clean everything was. His stainless steel counter tops gleamed and his bathrooms looked like they had never been used.

Such behavior was engrained into him. His clean apartment, his minimalist decorating style. It was almost sterile and barren.

Arthur didn't think too much about his cold taste in décor as he cleaned his weapons. His two side arms, the small 22. cal he kept in the ankle holster.

He was as meticulous about cleaning his weapons as he was about his apartment.

He had Ariadne's file spread out on the coffee table. Newspapers under the different pieces of his disassembled gun. He didn't need to study the case file any more. He had it memorized.

Ariadne Lynn Harper, age 24

Birth Place: Florence, Oregon.

She was a good student till her parents died in a car crash when she was sixteen. She lived with an Aunt until she went off to college. She had a fair amount of student loan debt. Most likely how Cobb was able to recruit her into dream extraction work.

The Extraction from their Forger had told Arthur all the details about her. She liked espresso over normal coffee. She listened to jazz music and read historical fiction. She didn't own a car and didn't even have a license to drive anymore.

She wasn't afraid to speak her mind. A fact that annoyed everyone on the team except Cobb, who seemed to trust her.

Arthur realized it was Cobb's liking of this girl that most likely enraged Mal.

Ariadne had worked with the team for over year and had proven herself invaluable to them. She built worlds and paradoxes so amazing, it baffled even Cobb. A man who had been working in dream extractions for years.

Arthur was drawn back to that face.

She hardly looked dangerous. She looked barely out of her teen years. How dangerous could she be? It almost seemed like over kill to bring the extra weapons.

This was a part of the job he hated. He didn't mind the kidnapping and dream extractions. He didn't even mind killing people. Most of them deserved it. They were traitors to their country.

Ariadne was different. She was just a young girl who trusted the wrong people. All to have it blow up in her face.


	2. Chapter 2

2.

_ ~ Snow White, an innocent maiden, was filled with terror as she ran through the dark forest. Everywhere, things came out of the darkness to grab her. The dead tress seemed to grow claws that tried to catch and cut her. The snakes and spiders were roused out of their holes to bite and try to feed off her. Great birds took flight around her and circled menacingly above. _

_ Their sharp beaks waiting for the moment when she would die and they could feast on her eyes._

~ Ariadne tired to blend in.

She secured her head scarf better and tried to look like a well seasoned tourist to Jerusalem. The heat was imposing and draining, but it was still comfortable. She had slipped in with the church group effortlessly as they toured the holy lands. It was a group of over 300 and no one noticed the extra member. The tour guides taking them through the sights as she stayed close to the older couple from New York.

She looked at the beautiful churches of Jerusalem. The most sacred places in all of Christendom, and all she wanted to do was cry.

~ It was less then a week ago, she had arrived at the workshop to find the place a disaster. She didn't know what to do, where to go.

Cobb had quickly located her before she gave herself away. The Extractor had brought her into this life and explained that the government agency he used to work for was after him.

"I don't think they'll come after you." Cobb explained as he gave her over fifty thousand dollars in cash and told her to go into hiding. "But you know too much."

She had never felt so afraid as the Extractor told her to go to ground. Never try and contact him again, and she wasn't safe.

She followed the plan Cobb had sketched out for her when she first started working with the team. In the event they would have to scatter and hide, she knew there was a special locker in a Berlin train station that would contain her new identity. So, Alma Rodgers she became.

She had been on trains for almost a week before falling in with the religious group. She couldn't go back home with them to America. Cobb told that she was now on the FBI watch list. That her dealing with dream extraction would put her in prison or in a secret CIA compound for life.

Everyday, she wished she had never agreed to work with Cobb in the dream world.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" A voice said and interrupted her thoughts.

Ariadne was thinking about all she had lost and what a scary future her life now held. She was startled by one of the church group members talking to her.

"Sorry?" She asked him.

He was thin and tall. His sunglasses were perched carelessly on top of his head as he aimed a camera at a beautiful fresco.

"The church. You're on a tour of the oldest churches in the world and you didn't even bring a camera?" He asked.

She suddenly felt stupid. Everyone in the group was snapping pictures left and right. She had completely forgotten to buy a camera. She must have stuck out being the only one who wasn't obsessed with the sights.

"It broke." She said lamely.

The young man gave her an amused smile.

"Tell you what, I'll email you all of my pictures." He told her.

Ariadne rolled her eyes, he was flirting with her.

She looked over the young man.

He was good looking. His hair cleanly combed back and he spoke with an American accent. He was most likely a seminary student. A do good-er who was going to devote his life to being a minister. He most likely thought she was the type of girl for him. A girl he had met in the holy lands. What could be better? They could settle in his home town and she could be a preachers wife and have three daughters.

Ariadne suddenly laughed out loud.

The whole idea was so shockingly funny.

It wasn't long before her laughter turned to tears.

"Are you alright?" The young man asked worriedly.

She dried her eyes.

"Just... it's just the stress from traveling." She told him. The others in the tour group glanced at her. They saw she was with this nice looking young man and let their eyes roll off her easily.

"Why don't we get something to drink?" He asked her. "My treat."

~ Ariadne didn't know why she let herself separate from the group. She had been safer in the group. Yet, this young man was so kind and pleasant to her, she trusted him without prejudice.

He bought her a coke and she drank it gratefully. The sweetness of it hitting her, and making her feel better.

"Thank you." She told the young man.

"You're very welcome." He laughed as he paid the man.

"I don't know your name." She said feebly.

He smiled as her. His eyes crinkling as he looked no older then 20.

"It's Arthur." He told her.

"I'm Ar-" She caught herself. "_Alma_. My name is Alma." She told him.

He gave her a little bow.  
"I'm very pleased to meet you, Alma." Arthur said kindly. "What made you want to come to Jerusalem? And all alone? It's not exactly the safest thing to do."

"I wanted to see the sights." she said softly.

Her soda soothing away the hurt of the past few days.

Her brow furrowed as her brain caught up with what Arthur said.

"How did you know I'm alone?" She asked.

He shrugged.

"You didn't check in with anyone when we left the chapel. You look like your part of a tour group, but not any particular part."

"My boyfriend is back at the hotel." Ariadne told him. She wished she was better lair.

Arthur nodded.

"I see." he said.

"He is. He wasn't feeling well." Ariadne said lamely. Trying to make this handsome stranger believe the lie.

"It's alright, Ariadne. I believe you." Arthur said lazily as they watched the tourist group exist the chapel.

"Well, I should get back to my tour group." Ariadne said meekly as she turned away from him.

Her brain caught up with what he had said again.

It was the heat, the stupid heat here. It was making her slow and stupid.

She turned to look at Arthur. He still looked careless and casual. His sunglasses over his eyes as he smiled back at her.  
"Except, you just called me Ariadne. Didn't you?" She asked in a whisper.


	3. Chapter 3

3.

_~'Fair maiden, I must kill you. So that I make take your heart to the queen as proof you no longer live.' growled the huntsman as he brandished a fierce looking knife. _

_ Snow White coward away from him. Fear written on her face. _

_'Have mercy on me!' she cried piteously. 'I've done nothing wrong. I'm innocent!'_

_ The huntsman was about the draw back his knife for the death blow, when Snow White's beauty made him hesitate._

~ "Don't run." Arthur warned her. His voice had suddenly become colder.

"Who are you?" She said as she stepped away from him. Her tour group leaving and she would soon find herself abandoned.

"I told you, I'm Arthur. I've been looking for you. I thought you would be in Finland, but was surprised to find you here. You should have stayed away from trains." Arthur said casually as he stepped closer to her.

He was still drinking his own soda, and they looked for all the world to be a normal couple of tourists.

"I'm not exactly used to being on the run." She said lamely.

"I'll say." Arthur said with a smile. "Although, it took some work to track you down; you were still easier than most."

"Who do you work for? The CIA?" She asked.

Arthur laughed.

"I don't report to any specific government agency." He told her.

"What are you going to do to me?" She asked. She felt like she was about to cry. She should run. Try to get away from him and get help. He could catch her on those long legs of his, but she could scream. People would notice she was in distress.  
"That depends on you." Arthur said coldly.

"Depends on me, what?"

Her tears were burning her eyes.  
"If you come away with me quietly, it will be easier on you." he told her.

'_Run._' She thought to herself. '_Run away now._'

"Don't run." Arthur warned as if reading her thoughts. "You run, you make me chase you, it will be unpleasant for you."

She flinched as she felt his hand slid into hers.

His palm was oddly comforting as she could feel well worn callouses and strong fingers.

"Let's go." Arthur said softly. As if asking her out on a date or to go driving with him.

~ As if in a trance, she left Arthur take her back to his hotel. A quite little place that was unnoticeable. She was afraid to go against him. Afraid to move away, yet she trusted him without hesitation. He didn't yell at her or threaten her in anyway. Didn't squeeze her hand hard, or make any display of strength to terrify her. He held her hand and walked her protectively down the narrow streets.

She was shaking when they arrived in his room.

She knew the interrogation would start as soon as she walked through the door. There were no witnesses here. Nothing that could help her.

What would he do? Break her fingers one by one? Rip out her finger nails? Rape her?

She fell to the floor in exhaustion as soon as she stepped over the threshold. Her body was worn out. The days on the run, the sleepless nights. She wanted to sink into sleep and never surface. She didn't care what happened now, she just wanted sleep.

She never felt Arthur catching her and lowering her gently down before she blacked out.

~ "Ariadne?" Arthur was asking. His strong voice reaching her in her haze as she realized she was curled up in a ball on a comfortable bed.

"Drink this." he ordered.

She looked dumbly at a sports drink bottle that he had opened for her.

Her mouth watered in desire for the sweet drink.

She took it from him and drank.

"You fainted on me." Arthur said in a kind voice.

Ariadne had never felt so weak as she sipped the bottle that was too heavy for her.

"I don't feel well." She said tragically.

"Let me guess, you haven't been eating right? Haven't been drinking enough water either. All the stress from travel has taken it's toll. You need to rest and build yourself back up." He said.

"Why? So you can torture me?" she accused sharply. Her fears were like a sharp blade, ready to stab at her over and over again.

Arthur sighed.

"I'm not going to torture you." He said as if the whole idea was insane.

She swallowed a hard lump as she spoke again.

"You're going to rape me?" She croaked.

He laughed.

"No. I'm not that kind of a guy. I love a _willing_ partner." He told her.

"What are you going to do?" She asked as she wiped her nose with he sleeve.

"You need to get some sleep." Arthur told her. "We can leave in the morning."

"To go where?" She asked.

"I can't tell you that." Arthur said numbly.

"Why not? You're sending me to my death, why can't you tell me?" She sniffed.

Arthur looked t her coldly.  
"Finish your drink. I've ordered room service to bring you a hot meal." He told her.

Ariadne held back a bubble of emotion as the man who was holding her was being so kind.  
"I don't want anything." She said petulantly.  
"You're just being suborn. You can't live on a diet of potato chips and diet soda." Arthur told her.

She looked at him. How could he have known that?

"You're really not used to being on the run, are you?" He laughed.

There was a knock on the door, and Arthur nimbly stood up to answer it. A congenial little man brought in a tray that smelled wonderful and Ariadne temporarily forgot her fears as she wondered what was there.

"It's all vegetarian." Arthur said as he removed the silver lids. "I don't eat meat and this country is most obliging to no meat diets." He said as he prepared a plate of seasoned rice and lentils.

"It smells good." She said as her mouth watered.

"Thought you didn't want anything." Arthur said as he handed her an over loaded plate. The rice tasted of some kind of honey and brown sugar. The peas and beans were heavily pepered and the flavors sang in her mouth as she ate.

"Changed your mind I see." Arthur mused as he flipped on the TV.

It took some searching, but he eventually found a station that broadcast old movies in English. Ariadne pretended not to show interest in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory".

"You know, I've never seen this." Arthur said absentmindedly as they watched.

"You haven't? What's wrong with you?" She accused.

Her feeding making her feel bolder.

Arthur gave her a small, guilty smile.  
"I guess I had a deprived childhood." He admitted.  
"I loved this movie growing up." She told him as the watched Charlie find his golden ticket.

They said nothing for a long time. Ariadne hadn't noticed the sun sinking in the sky and she realized it had turned dark outside.

"Time to take a shower." Arthur suddenly announced as he stood up.

Ariadne stood and moved away from him.

He was going to rape her. Force her to strip for him and wash her before he did it.

"No." Ariadne said. "You just leave me alone." She waned him.

Arthur rolled his eyes. He looked annoyed.

"Go into the bathroom and take a shower. I hate to be impolite, but you've been out in the heat and you've been sweating. You smell bad. You'll feel better once your clean." He told her.

He went to his bag and handed her a brand new night gown and panties with the tags still on.  
"You bought clothes for me?" She asked in shock. As he handed her a new tooth brush as well.

"I'm the kind of guy who likes to be prepared." He said simply. "Now, go and wash up."

~ Arthur had been right. She felt much more human after the body was clean. She couldn't do enough to wash away the sweat and grim of the past few days and finally Arthur had to knock on the bathroom door to see if she hadn't drowned in the shower.

She emerged meekly in her night gown and asked him for a hair brush to comb out her wet hair.

He retrieved one that looked as if he had specially bought it for her alone to use.  
"Do you treat all the people you capture like this?" Ariadne asked.

Arthur looked troubled.

"Not all of them." he said as he carefully pulled out a pair of handcuffs from his pocket.

"No!" Ariadne screamed and started to cry. "No, please! Please don't do this!"

"Sh!" Arthur said as his hands were trying to sooth her.

She was in near hysterics as she knew what was about to happen. He was going to handcuff her and beat her. Most likely rape her now.

"I just need to take my shower." Arthur said calmly. "I need to cuff you to this bed so you don't do something stupid like try to get away."

She was trying hard not to cry as he spoke gently to her.

"Listen to me. I'll uncuff you as soon as I'm out, alright?" He said.

She muffled a sob and nodded.

His hands were gentle as he latched the cuff on her wrist without being too tight. She watched numbly as she attached the other cuff to the bed railing.

"See? It's not so bad." he said as his strong fingers traced lazily down her writs.

She sniffed and looked at her new hairbrush.

She felt Arthur's fingers close over her wrist and lift her whole hand up to his lips. He sweetly kissed the tender part of her writs before standing up and going into the bathroom.


	4. Chapter 4

4.

_ ~ So lost to her beauty and goodness, the huntsman hesitated to kill Snow White as commanded by the queen. Thus sealing his fate. ~ _

~ Ariadne waited for Arthur to come out of the bathroom. She had nothing to do but brush her hair and wait as she sat on the bed. Finally, he emerged from his own shower in nothing but sleep pants.

She quickly looked away as he immediately went to uncuff her.  
"See? I kept my word." He told her.

"Thank you." She said weakly. "I know what your trying to do."

"What am I trying to do?" Arthur asked as he went back to his bag.

"I know what Stockholm syndrome is. Your trying to show me how nice you are so I'll feel safe with you. So I'll trust you. Well, I don't feel safe with you. I don't trust you." She said.

"Fair enough." Arthur said as he removed a book from his bag and handed it to her.

"What's this?" Ariadne asked as she looked at a familiar cover.

"It's the book you were reading before you had to go on the run. I thought you might like to finish it." He said.

"How did you know what I was reading?" Ariadne asked in shock.

"We found one of your team members. He told us everything about you." Arthur explained reasonably. "Also your digital footprint can't be covered up. You buy a lot of books online for your e-reader."

"So you went and bought me the book I was reading?" Ariadne said in amazement.

Arthur shrugged as he pulled out his own book. A spy thriller. Something she wasn't shocked at all he liked to read.

"I thought it might make you feel better." He explained as he went around to the other side of the bed.

Ariadne shifted away from Arthur as he settled into bed beside her.  
"Sorry we have to sleep in the same bed." Arthur said as he started reading. His body relaxed as he seemed not to care about her comfort in the slightest.

Ariadne stared numbly at her book. The historical fiction seemed less captivating right now. She skimmed over the pages she had read and couldn't find the interest in the story again. Another person entirely had started this book. She wasn't that person anymore.

Not to mention the fact that her captor was neatly settled just inches away from her. She felt like they were an old married couple just now.  
"I think I'll just go to sleep." She said lamely.

"Very well." Arthur said as he shut his book. He seemed neither angry or pleased she wanted to go to sleep as he retrieved the handcuffs again.

She almost stopped breathing as he moved towards her.

"Wait. Don't!" She protested as his strong hands seized her wrist and cuffed her right arm back on the bed railing.

"Why... why do you have to cuff me? I'm not going to go anywhere in my sleep." She tried to tell him.

Arthur ignored her protesting cries as he moved back on his side of the bed.

"Sorry." He said as he returned to his book. "I need my sleep just as much as you do. I can't be sure you won' run."

~ Arthur read for an hour before he finally cut the light off and went to sleep.

Ariadne was half asleep as she sensed him roll over and go to sleep.

She almost never remembered her real dreams. Working in the dream extractions made her natural dreams an elusive and unpredictable thing.

She dreamed people where standing over her. She was strapped to a lab table and doctors were drilling holes into her eyes.

She couldn't get away and they were cutting into her eyes with needles as she screamed. She screamed and yet no sound came out of her mouth.

~ "Ariadne!" Arthur growled as he shook the girl awake.

She had started to scream and kick in her sleep. A nightmare obviously pervading her subconscious mind.

She had been a remarkably easy catch for him. She didn't try to run, she complied to his every request. So, she had been rewarded with food, a shower and her book.

But he felt that deep down inside, Ariadne would eventually be trouble.

She woke up screaming about her eyes and crying.  
"Stop! Please! PLEASE!" She screamed in her sleep.

"Ariadne!" Arthur said soothingly.

She surfaced from her nightmare to stare confusedly around the room. Her big eyes looking wildly at him.  
"Please!" she cried as she realized she was still handcuffed to the bed frame. "Let me go!"

"You're alright!" Arthur said as he rolled his body closer to her and tried to prevent her for accidentally hurting herself from fighting against her restraints.  
"Ariadne, it's me. It's Arthur." he said as she started to cry again. "You were having a nightmare, but you're alright now."

"What? Please, let me go!" She cried in the darkness.

Arthur let out a long sigh.

'_Don't do it_.' he thought to himself as he reached for the little silver key to his handcuffs.

Ariadne was whimpering as he unlocked the cuff from her delicate wrist.

He felt bad he had to restrain her to the bed like this. He knew there wasn't much fight in her after weeks on the run. But he had rules he stuck to. Most of these rules were lessons he had learned the hard way.

The biggest rule was to never let your target gain leverage.

Ariadne sniffled as she curled into the fetal position in bed.  
"You just had a bad dream." Arthur told her again. "It's a reaction to being off the compound."

"They were putting needles in my eyes." she whispered as he tired to comfort her.

He wasn't used to comforting anyone and wasn't exactly sure how the thing was done.

"It was only a dream. It's not real." Arthur said.

"Are you going to hurt me?" she asked.

Arthur didn't know how to answer that. So far, Ariadne had been compliant. She had not given him any trouble at all. Most of the people he took down had to be subdued quickly and information extracted from them right away.

He knew suddenly that he couldn't kill this girl. He would extract information from her mind and help her hide, but he would not deliver her cold, dead body to Mal.

"No." Arthur said as he smoothed out Ariadne's hair. "No, I'm not going to hurt you. We just have to figure out what we're going to do next."

"I can't run anymore." She said weakly. "I'm so afraid all the time."

"I know you are. Go to sleep, and in the morning, we'll think of a way out together." he said.

Ariadne nodded and he felt her fingers curl into his hand.

"Please don't cuff me to the bed again." She said before she drifted off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

5.

_~ The huntsman swung his ax over Snow White's head and let in fall uselessly to the ground._

"_I can not kill you, fair one." he cried. "I haven't the strength to take away such beauty from the world." ~_

~ Arthur awoke to an empty bed.

He immediately sat up as he realized the girl was gone. How stupid he had been! Letting her sleep uncuffed and allowing to do as she wanted. She had played him. Pretended to have a nightmare so he would take pity on her.

Well, he would find her again and bring her back in. Only, this time, he wouldn't be so nice.

He jumped nimbly out of bed and was about to start dressing when he heard the water running in the bathroom.

Ariadne emerged looking tired as ran a brush through her hair.

"Morning." She said weakly. "I didn't wake you up did I?"

Arthur felt foolish to suddenly be caught half dressed like this. He was certain she had run away. Certain she had escaped him when all along she was in the bathroom.

"Ariadne." he sighed in relief.

"What happens now?" She asked him as she stood awkwardly in her night gown.

He shook his head.

The events of last night had to be forgotten. They had to be. She wasn't some innocent girl. She was a highly skilled, highly trained dream architect. She had to be taken in.

Whatever feeling he had for this girl had to be pushed aside and forgotten about for now.  
"We get on a plane." Arthur said as he finished dressing in the casual clothing he wore for this trip.

"To your people? What will they do to me?" Ariadne asked. Her eyes were wide with worry as she watched him for clues on how scared she should be.  
"I can't say." Arthur grumbled as he went to his bag and retrieved a change of clothing for her.

~ Ariadne was only mildly surprised that Arthur had brought with him a change of clothing for her. She speculated he had gone to her apartment to search for clues as to where she might have gone. She could see him carefully, and respectfully looking through her closet to find her clothing size and style. He had even bought her the correct bra size. She said nothing back as she changed in the bathroom and came back out.

"Are you going to perform an extraction on me?" She asked as he was packing their bags.

Arthur looked up at her alarm. She hadn't meant to throw him off his game by going to the bathroom while he was still sleeping. The whole thing seemed to rattle him. He looked up at her in shock that she would ask about dream extractions.

She nodded to the silver case where the PASIV was kept.

"I... um..." Arthur mused obviously searching for answers.

"Because you won't be able to now." She told him as she put her shoes back on. She could still feel the carefully folded bills in the toe of her shoe. She had learned to always hide money in her shoes.

"I won't?" Arthur asked bitterly.

"No." She told him. "I saw the case, my mind is prepared for an extraction now. It would be different if you had done it last night while I was still not feeling well, but now my subconscious will fight you too much."

"Your other team mates were pretty easy to gain information on." Arthur said.

"I'm sure they were." Ariadne told him. "But now me. You forget who trained me."

Ariadne smiled, pleased with herself. She suddenly felt much better. Stronger then she had felt in weeks. It was amazing what a good night sleep, and food could do.

"You're thinking of letting me go, aren't you?" Ariadne said suddenly.

As soon as she said the words, she knew it was true. Arthur's face was like reading a book just now. She suspected he was very cold and distant most of the time, but just now, she could see he was confused and worried. Like a child who had done something bad and was afraid to tell his parents.

"You're going to let me go?" She said in disbelief. "Why?"

"I can't let you go." Arthur said standing up and securing his bag.

"But you're going to." She said. She knew it was true. Something in him was not made of stone and he would not hand her over to whatever forces he answered to.

Arthur shook his head.

"I can't let you go. You would be recaptured by another agent in a matter of days." He explained.

She knew that was true. She knew another agent would track her down and find her just as quickly as Arthur did.

"You don't know how to hide, how to go off radar." Arthur whispered.

He gave her a cutting look as she awaited his decision.

"I'll have to help you hide." He said zipping up her bag and taking her hand.


	6. Chapter 6

6.

_~ "Run, maiden!" The huntsman shouted at Snow White. "Run and hide in the dark forest for I can not kill you!" ~_

~ Ariadne took his hand as he lead her downstairs and out into the streets to the sea of people.

This man was trained killer; she knew that. Why she trusted him to help her, to protect her, she had no idea.

"Put you're scarf back on." He ordered as he secured a hastily bought fedora style hat over his own head. His reflective sunglasses back on his face made him look like a different person.

She nervously concealed her dark hair and profile with her thin summer scarf and tried to look like she belonged with Arthur. Their hands clutching tightly as he took her through the streets.

They blended in with the crowd of people as they moved along with the tide of loud tourists.

"Are they watching us?" Ariadne asked him.

She looked around the market they found themselves on.

"Always assume someone is watching." Arthur told her.

His strong hand held hers firmly as they walked quickly through the streets.

"Why are you helping me?" She whispered as the crowds became denser.

Arthur shook his head and didn't answer.

"We'll need to get ourselves out of the country." He told her instead. "For that, we'll need new identities."

~ Ariadne peered around a curious little shop as her unlikely traveling companion spoke to a neat, pleasant little man with a cat.

"It will not be easy to get you another passport, Arthur. Airports have facial recognition. Are you sure you just don't want to turn her in?" he asked.

"I can't, Yuseff." Arthur told him.

They most likely thought that Ariadne couldn't hear and she pretended great interest in the dusty curios on the shelf.

This shop was just a front for whatever underground business this merchant provided.

"I recommend China. No extradition." Yuseff said after looking over Arthur's companion. "You know Mal will come after the both of you if you hide her. Is she really worth your life?"

Arthur didn't respond right away.

"Not even Mal's talons are that long." Arthur assured the man behind the counter.  
"It will take a few days, and fifty thousand dollars." Yuseff told him.

Ariadne almost stopped breathing. Fifty thousand? Arthur, a total stranger, would never shell out the kind of money to help her.

She was surprised when he opened his wallet to press out clean bills into Yuseff's hands.  
"You'll need to contact Mr. Eames, he can help you if Mal does come after you two." Yuseff told him.

"It's best if we not talk about my plans." Arthur grumbled. "In case Mal finds you next."

Yuseff threw up his hands and shrugged.

"As you wish." He told him.

~ "Arthur, I need to know why you're helping me." Ariadne hissed as they settled into the worn down room Yuseff gave them. It would take days to complete to forged passports and they couldn't be on the streets.

He said nothing as he inspected the room. It's rustic chic style obviously wasn't to his taste.

"Mal." Ariadne said.

He turned to look at her.

"Cobb used to talk about her. She's was his wife. She runs some kind of task force. That's who you work for isn't it?" She accused.

He sighed.  
"That's who I worked for. Yes." He admitted. "But now that I'm helping you escape, you might say I'm unemployed."

"Mal is going to come after you." Ariadne told him.  
"She can try, but I can go off the grid pretty easy. I've a lot of experience in finding people, who don't want to be found. I'm the best at it actually." He informed her as he inspected the sheet of what would be their bed for the next few days. "Whenever I'm looking for someone, I use aliases and I vanish completely for as long as it takes. It's safer for me. I know how to hide."

He stood and looked at her disapprovingly.

"You, however, do not know how to hide. You make stupid mistakes that would get you caught. That's why I can't just let you go. You need me to hide you, and teach you how to live as someone else." Arthur accused.  
"What mistakes did I make?" She barked at him. "I paid with cash for everything. I left all my electronic devices back in Paris. I left a false trail to Finland-"

"You also stayed on the same train for three days and used your own ID for the ticket purchase to Finland and for Egypt." Arthur snapped. "Stupid mistake."

She _did_ feel stupid just now. She had thought she was so smart using her real ID for the ticket to Finland and laying out a false trail. She hadn't counted on the ticket clerk using the same ID for her transport south.

"Why are you helping me? I need to know." She whispered as she sat on the bed.

He sighed and took a tentative seat next to her.  
"I could get you killed. I probably _will_ get you killed." She said feeling like a worthless human being.

"You underestimate me." Arthur told her. "I know what I'm doing. First, we need to convince Mal that I extracted information out of you, and that you're dead."

Ariadne noticed he didn't answer her question about why he was helping her.

"You need to tell me things about Cobb that she _wants_ to hear. Nothing that will lead us to him. Then, we need to send proof that you're dead." He told her.  
"How do we do that? Picture?" She asked.

"No. Anyone can fake a picture." He told her. "Mal want's proof that you're dead. We'll need to send her your body."


	7. Chapter 7

7.

~ "Cobb and I weren't sleeping together!" Ariadne exclaimed looking shocked and hurt Arthur would even bring such a thing up.

He sighed and looked over his mini notebook. He had only been able to extract a few details about Ariadne's life with the team that Mal might be interested in.  
He looked at the pretty girl across the bed from him.

The pair of them sat across from each other on the bed as they tried to figure out what secrets Mal would want most.

"It doesn't matter if it's really true, Ariadne." Arthur said wearily. He was already tired and longing for sleep. "Mal would be very happy if I reported that you were having an affair with Cobb."

"Why? Won't that make her madder?" She asked.  
"Mal is the kind of person who is happiest when she's got something to be angry about." Arthur admitted sadly.

"She sounds lovely." Ariadne laughed bitterly. "How can you work for someone like that?"

"I don't have to put up with her very much and she pays me well." Arthur told her.

"So it's all about money for you? That's why you do these... things?" She asked.  
Arthur looked at her with restrained furry.

"There are many things in life that are conditional. Love, family, friends. Money, however, is an absolute." He told her.

He looked back at his little notebook.  
"So you were working on a dream extraction for a Robert Fischer." He said gathering his thoughts. "Your Forger told us some of that. Tell me about the levels you were planning."

"The first was a city. The second was a hotel. Cobb was talking about a third level too, but we had our doubts it could really work." She admitted.

"It can't work." Arthur said as he wrote down the levels.

"Cobb seemed to think it could work." Ariadne told him. "Isn't he the best Extractor around?" Ariadne teased him.

Arthur looked up at her. Their knees were almost touching as the sat crossed legged on the bed. Night had reclaimed the sky and the only light in the room came from a heavily stained glassed overhead lantern. It cast funny, warm hues and star patterns around the room and made Arthur feel oddly intimate with Ariadne at that moment.

He found he was staring at her for a long time. Noticing, not for the first time, her oh so lovely eyes and enchanting face. She looked so lost and innocent to the world. How could he not help her?

"Do you think Mr. Cobb could create a third level?" Arthur asked as he snapped shut his little notebook and put his pen down.

"I think it's late." She said as an answer.

Arthur looked at his watch. It was past midnight and he had things to do in the morning. All this talk with Ariadne had kept him up too long. He was a man who liked his routine and liked to stick with it even more.

"You're right." He said and let out a sigh.

Ariadne had already taken a shower and changed into her night clothes as he shook the feel of his leg having fallen asleep out.

"How are we going to do the sleeping arrangements?" She asked.  
"Same as last night." Arthur said as he went into the adjoining bathroom.

"So you're going to cuff me to bed again?" She accused sharply as she burrowed under the bed covers.

Arthur had started brush his teeth, but spat the past out in the sink. He leaned out of the open bathroom door.

"Would you like me to cuff you tot he bed?" He asked.  
"I'll pass." She told him humorously.

He shrugged and rinsed.

~ She was shyly waiting for him when he returned to her after his shower.

Her lovely eyes wide and worried as he didn't acknowledge the awkward moment of him getting into the same bed as her.

He was about to turn out the light when he heard her.

"Thank you, Arthur. For helping me." She said feebly.

He shut off the lights and settled himself in the darkness beside her.

"You're welcome." he said to the stillness and anonymity of night.  
"Arthur?"

"Yes?"

"Please tell me why you're helping me." she asked.

He let out a sigh.

"I'm not sure. I just... can't take you into Mal."

"Why?"

"She's... not a good person."

"Cobb never talked about her."

"No, he wouldn't." Arthur laughed.

"If Mal finds you, she'll kill you." Ariadne whispered.  
"She won't have to find me. I intend to go back to her in the morning." Arthur confessed.  
"What?"

"I'll put you on a plane to my friend Eames and meet you later. I'll divert her long enough to get you hidden where she will never find you."

"You're going to leave me?" She asked weakly. Her small hands finding his.

He resisted touching her. The feel of her body was too close, too attainable.

"It will only be for a few days. It gives us more time." He promised.

"Arthur." She said with a sob.

He could never explain what happened next. Arthur wasn't the type of man to act irrationally. But since meeting Ariadne, everything about him had worked on impulse.

It was human need, human instinct that drove him to comfort her with his kiss as she cried for him not to leave her. It was his helpless want for a beautiful woman that made him succumb to her and forget everything he was was risking to protect her.


	8. Chapter 8

8.

"_Her heart." thought the huntsman. "I must take her heart." _

~ Ariadne knew he would let her go. She knew it the second he looked at her like some puppy he didn't want to take to the pound. A mixture of pity and something like love.

She couldn't explain why she felt safe with this man; this hunter of people. He was so detailed and professional in all things. His mind worked fast and analyzed all options before he acted. She knew he wasn't the type to act so rashly. Yet, helping her escape was the stupidest thing he could have done.

So why was he doing it? Why was he giving up his own freedom to help her? Chances were good she would be recaptured soon enough anyway.

Now, he was saying he was going to put her on a plane and leave her. He was going back to the people who were hunting her. She would be alone again.

It was the last thing in the world she wanted. She finally felt safe with Arthur. His cool detachment and determination comforted her. She was able to relax around him after so many days of nightmares and worry.

"Arthur." She mewed as she felt herself snuggle closer to his body. "Please don't go."

"I'll find you again in a few days." he whispered to the darkness of their room. His big feet catching hold of hers under the covers as her hands roamed up his chest.

Contact.

All she wanted was contact from him. She wanted to feel his pleasing body heat. His strong hands and arms around her would ease away all these fears for a little while.

"No." she said childishly as his fingers wove into hers. His thumb grazed the delicate pad of her hand before he kissed her, sweetly and chastely, on the forehead.

"I have to. I have to make Mal think you're dead, so that she will give up looking for you." he said soothingly.

"How will you do that?"

He let out a long sigh.

"It's best if you let me worry about that." he admitted.

"Arthur, I'm afraid." she said as he rolled over; allowing her to nestle closer to him. The crook of his arm providing a comfortable sleeping nook.

She breathed in the scent of his cologne and aftershave. All these wonderful, masculine smells that aroused something in her as her hands moved slowly down his chest.

She wasn't sure when he started kissing her, or even if she was the one to start things. The moment felt perfectly right. Their faces close, their bodies synced as his lips claimed hers.

Their kiss was clandestine and powerful. She realized, only vaguely, that they hadn't parted lips to take breath or give themselves a chance to turn back.

Instead, their lips were locked in a building storm of want as her protector rolled over her and she felt her body melt into his. The furious storm of desire was allowed to build and build until she knew there was no stopping it.

She realized her legs had parted around his waist when she felt his hardness, powerful and unforgiving, rubbing against her hot, secret places threateningly. The only thing preventing his penetration was the thin layer of her underwear.

"Arthur!" she suddenly cried out in fear.

He stopped their fevered kiss and she had to remember to breath right.

Her lover pulled away from her slightly and looked at her concerned.

"You... you don't want this?" he panted. His large hands already entangled in her hair. Her hips ridding up meet his. Her desire, wet and wanting, demanding his entrance into her.  
"We..." She gasped before her mind lost all thought process and all she wanted was the feel of him again.

Arthur gave into her easily. The heavenly smell of his clean, well groomed body greeted her nostrils and made her inner core spark hotly to life.

She wasn't the type of girl to give herself so recklessly to a man. She believed in cation when it came to her relationships. But her time on the run had made her feel so alone and unloved, her body jumped at the chance of having him.

Arthur didn't disappoint. His kiss returned to her, and his hips thrust themselves hard and pleasurable at the same time. She wanted all of him and didn't resist as his hands left her hair and were rolling her panties down her hips and buttocks.

Her body was now unprotected with no more layers of clothing left between her and the hardness that threatened to take her.

She felt those wonderfully calloused fingers trip carefully over her desire as his lips roamed up her neck and his breath tickled her ear. Her hips bucked involuntarily up to greet him at the contact of his warm, wet kiss. Her sex jumping at the feel of his fingers over the delicate folds.

"My God, you're beautiful." he panted as she felt his fingers rub and abused her sex bud. Her body jumping slightly at the deliberate tickling and teasing.

She moaned slightly at the relaxing feel of his touch on her.

She could feel her need for him busting to life as she pulled off her night gown and expose her body to the coolness of night.

The darkness prevented her lover from truly seeing all of her. But his hands left her swollen wetness to explore her body. He ran his palms over her belly and as his lips quickly found her nipples. Her skin shivered at the contact of his large hands touching her.

She felt beautiful and intoxicated as he ruthlessly touched and tasted her.

"You even taste good." He whispered as his hands left her and returned to her wetness again. His fingers not hesitating to slide into her passage.

She wanted more, much more from him. His hands, his kiss doing nothing more then teasing her now.

"Arthur." she panted as he buried his fingers deeply into her. His thumb rubbing careful circles over her clitoris, making her desire roar to life.  
"Please?" she begged.

Arthur didn't hesitate to take her.

He shifted out of his sleep pants and before she could change her mind, buried his rock like shaft into her tender body.

She gasped as the intrusion of his hardness. Her body ready, yet unprepared for it at the same time. He was harder and larger then she thought. His movements inside her made her body seize up and want him to stop.

But her lover returned to her again and his kiss soothed away her initial fears. Her body relaxed around his harness as she could feel his gentle movements sooth her.

Arthur lowered himself over her and his kiss found her lips again as he rocked himself gently into her. The warmth and fullness of his body comforted her as she felt herself quickly climax and come.

Her lover barely realizing she had climaxed so quickly as he rode her in an effortless dance.

She allowed him to do as he pleased. Her body relaxed and satiated as his lips tasted hers, and wandered down to her breasts again.

Her sex sending large waves of pleasure through her body as she enjoyed all the benefits of being taken.

She could feel yet another climax building as Arthur grunted loudly and pumped harder into her. His handsome features contorting slightly into a face of anger as he quickened his pace.  
"Ari-" he gasped as she could feel a blinding climax take her. Her nails digging into his back as her inner walls spasmed sharply and she feared she couldn't handle anymore.

It was with sudden shout that he came. His groaning completion more animal than man and he was reduced to panting and allowing her kiss to try and calm.

Their bodies, still beautiful together, were sticky and covered in sweat.

"It's alright." she whispered to him as her lips kissed his temple and neck.

Her lover allowing her to sooth away all his own fears. His breathing calming down as he relaxed over her again.


	9. Chapter 9

9.

~ Ariadne didn't dream that night. No nightmare came to torment her, and she awoke with the sunlight feeling rested and happy.

She could smell Arthur's cologne still on his pillow as she reached for his body. His side of their bed was cold and empty, and she snapped awake and realized she was alone.

"It's alright." Arthur said as she looked around for him.

He was sitting in a little chair, well away from her. He was already fully dressed and was waiting for her to wake up.

"Arthur?" she asked as she covered herself with the sheets.

"You better get dressed." he said. His face troubled as he avoided her eyes. "Yuseff was able to fast track your passport. My friend Mr. Eames will be waiting for you at the airport."

"You're still leaving?" she asked.

"I have to." he said as he stood to give her some privacy.

He turned back to her and looked remorseful.

"Ariadne, about last night. That shouldn't have happened." he said.

"Arthur." she whispered. The hurt in her voice clear.

"Go ahead and get dressed." He said before leaving her alone.

~ Half ashamed, she dressed as quickly as she could. She felt embarrassed by what happened last night. If Arthur was truly helping her out of the goodness of his heart, she had complicated things between them.

Maybe he had a wife or girlfriend back home waiting for him. She had made him unfaithful to them. Her needs had been so hungry last night. Everything had seemed so right, so perfect, she didn't question being with him.

She brushed off the idea of infatuation and love. At first she feared this man would rape her; less then 24 hours later, she demanded he make love to her. No wonder he was angry.

~ Arthur _was_ angry. But not for the reasons Ariadne believed. What happened between them, should never happen. He knew he was distracted now. He couldn't protect her like this.

He waited outside in the hall as his charge got dressed. It was no use pretending that their coupling didn't mean anything to him. He wasn't the type of person who casually bedded a woman. Perhaps this made him more desperate then most, but he didn't hesitate to take what she offered him in the night.

Still, it complicated his world more then he cared for. He could never see her again. That much was certain. The knowledge pained him more then he would admit.

She emerged meekly from their room, fully dressed and bag in hand.

"Ready?" he asked.

She nodded shyly.

~ They took a cab to a second class airport and Arthur gave her detailed instructions about what she would do once she arrived.  
"Do not deviate from these plans. This plane will take you to Egypt, then you'll get on another plane to Hong Kong. From there, you'll go to Tokyo." He told her as he gave her the tickets and her new passport.

"Japan?" She asked worriedly. "So far away."

"Exactly. I have friends there. Mr. Eames will meet you, and he will hide you." he explained.

"When will I see you again?" she asked worriedly as an intercom crackled overhead, announcing the next flight was ready to board.

"I'm not sure." he said not looking at her.

"Arthur, I'm sorry about last night. I thought-" she tried to explain.

"I'm sorry for what I said this morning." he interrupted.

She looked at him with those sad, brown eyes.

"You're not meeting me in Japan, are you?" She said softly.

Arthur took a deep breath and avoided her gaze.  
"I'm going to try, Ariadne." he said.

He could feel her gaze penetrating him, forcing him to look at her.  
"I promise I'll find you again." He said more resolutely.

~ Arthur watched her plane leave, and he immediately felt a little empty inside.

He was still a professional. Still capable of doing what had to be done.

~ A few hours later, he was in the city morgue. The half cared body of a dark haired young woman lay on the table.  
"Car accident." The mortician said casually. "I've had her partially cremated, as you requested."

Arthur looked over the dead girl. With the recently applied burns to her face, she could pass of Ariadne.  
"She'll do." Arthur said and handed the mortician a roll of neatly folded bills.

~ It was shocking how easy it was to get a body on a plane. Arthur presented the body as his sister; complete with a death certificate.

The coffin with her body was packed in a large metal cooler like box, and stowed in the luggage.

~ Back in New York, Mal was waiting.  
"Excellent work, Arthur." she said as she callously pried opened the metal box and examined the girl inside.

Mal looked over the unblemished part of her face and ran her long fingers through the dead girls hair.  
"I can't imagine what Cobb would see in you." Mal whispered.

Arthur had to flinch away from the macab sight.

"I think after this, I may want to take a few weeks off." Arthur told her as he looked away from Mal and her fascination with the dead girl she thought was Ariadne.

"Chasing this little girl down took too much out of you?" Mal asked spitefully.

Arthur shook his head.  
"Mal, I don't pry into your personal life, please don't pry into mine." He said in an icy tone.

Mal turned her attention off of the dead girl and nodded to the two beefy guards behind Arthur.

"Just a few things in your report, Arthur." She said as the guards moved closer to him.

Arthur had the unsettling feeling that Mal knew everything. That she was toying with him the way a cat would a mouse.

He stood his ground, however, and tried to look aloof.  
"Why didn't you call me to say you had the Bishop? Why did you just show up with her body? It's not like you." she asked.

This much was true. Arthur was a creature of intense and iron clad habit. He never deviated from his formula.

"It was difficult to make any calls out. It happens sometimes. You know that." He said.

_'No apologies, not excuses._' he thought.

Mal gave him a little smile.  
"I suposse that's one reason why you didn't follow the plan. You're normally so predicatable, Arhtur. That's one of the things I like the most about you." She said with her cat like smile.

Before Arthur could react, she nodded to the guards who pushed him roughly to his knees. Restraining him there for her inspection.  
"Could it be that my Bishop distracted you from your mission?" Mal purred as her long fingers found his collar and tie.  
"Mal, cut the crap. You know me." Arthur growled.

"I thought I did." Mal said spitefully. Her eyes gleaming with a dangerous hatred.

The elegant woman ripped open his carefully buttoned shirt and pushed back his jacket; exposing his back.

Arthur knew what it was she was seeing. Mal knew just what to look for as bright red scratch marks were littered on his back. Evidence of his time with Ariadne the night before.

"My, my. So this is why you didn't call." Mal smirked as she ran a hand over the whelps on his back.

Arthur struggled slightly in the guard's grip. Mal's touch disgusting him.

"Hum." she purred. "Some of these are deep. You must have done her nicely."

Arthur said nothing as Mal walked around him.

"I doubt you would take that girl to bed and then kill her. So where is she?" Mal asked.

"That _is _Ariadne." Arthur insisted coldly. "I was with another woman last night. It's a reward to myself for a job well done."

"I doubt that, Arthur. You're much too snobbish for a one night stand or a lady of the evening." Mal purred. "No, you like the forbidden fruit of my elusive Bishop. You're helping her escape me."

Arthur said nothing. Mal clearly knew everything. There was no point in denial.

"Arthur." She said sweetly. "Tell me where my little Bishop is."

He looked up at her and laughed.  
"I'll never tell you." He said mockingly.


	10. Chapter 10

10.

_~ The huntsman told the queen that snow white was dead and delivered a pig's heart to her as proof. But the queen, with her evil magic, knew the fair maiden was really alive. ~_

~ Ariadne spent the next two days up in the air. Arthur's diversion route transferred her from one plane to another as she bounced all over the globe.

She slept on the longer flights and never bothered with hotels. Finally, she landed in Japan. A bustling metropolis that was teaming with people.

~ She immediately felt lost in the sea of faces and massive crowds. All of them moving quickly out of the airport terminals. All of them knowing right away where they were going and leaving the confused Architect to fend for herself.

"You certainly stick out." came a friendly, teasing voice.  
Ariadne jumped as the man's voice was closer then she would have liked. He spoke in a charming English accent and when she turned to see him, was met with a smiling, playful face.  
"I'm Eames." He said taking her bag. "Arthur has you meeting me."

"I've been on and off planes for two days." Ariadne sighed. Grateful for someone to complain to.

"I know. It makes it harder to lock onto you if you're up in the air. Trust me, not even Arthur knew where you were most of the time. It's safer this way." Eames explained as he took her hand and they walked out of the airport.

"You've done this before?" She asked as he hailed a cab and spoke coarsely to the driver.

"I worked in counter intelligence for years." Eames said with a shrug. "I know how to make you disappear."

"Alright. So what now?" She asked as she climbed into the cab next to the enigmatic Mr. Eames.

"Now, we take you to our safe house. Then, we have something serious to talk about." Eames said sadly.

~ Ariadne reveled in the hot shower in the elegant pent house. Eames had brought her to an apartment that looked more like a bunker. It had a bank of closed circuit security cameras and monitors. A steel door and bullet proof glass.

She didn't question her good fortune as all she wanted to do was take a long, hot shower and eat real food.

~ Eames made her something to eat as he kept an eye on the security monitors.  
"When will Arthur be coming?" Ariadne asked as she took a hesitant bite of vegetable stew.

Her new friend sighed and didn't look at her. His eyes transfixed on the tv screens.  
"I'm afraid Arthur will not be joining us." he said casually.

"Why not?" Ariadne asked.

It was odd someone as fastidious as Arthur would have a friend like Eames, but she knew he could be trusted.

Eames turned to her and said nothing.

"What is it?" She asked. Her brow wrinkling.

"We got a video from Mal a few hours ago. Mal is the woman who sent Arthur to kill you." Eames explained slowly.

"What... what did she want?" Ariadne asked.  
"Arthur brought a dead body to Mal. Tried to pass it off as you. Mal didn't buy it." Eames explained.

Ariadne felt her breathing speed up.

"It seems she is holding Arthur until you come in." he told her.

"Let me see the video." Ariadne demanded.  
"Ariadne, I don't think that's a good idea." Eames protested.  
"Let me see it!" Ariadne streaked.

~ It was impossible to tell where the video was shot. The wall surrounding Arthur was gray and nameless. No windows provided any light and his surroundings were more like a dungeon.

Ariadne gasped as the sight of her protector.

Blood covered his face and had trickled down his once fine clothing. He had been severely beaten to the point that his left eye had swollen up.

"Mr. Eames."

A woman's voice drifted cat like into the video and a stunning creature emerged from behind the camera. She was tall and slim, yet had enticing, womanly curves. She could be called nothing short of beautiful, yet, something in her eyes warned she was dangerous.

"I trust you understand that your comrade had failed in his attempt to fool me. I know my Bishop is still alive. I know that you most likely have her. You and Arthur were always close and I know he trusts you." the woman said.

"Who is that?" Ariadne whispered.  
"That's Mal." Eames said sadly.

"The Bishop?" Ariadne asked.  
"It's the code name for you."

Mal spoke again.  
"I have no problem killing one of my own men if it will mean getting the Bishop, turn her over to me and I won't sent my forces in to collect you. I know you're hiding her as well as Cobb. I just want what belongs to me. I want my Bishop."

Mal looked smug for a second as two guards forced a bleeding, wounded Point Man to stand up.

"Oh no." Ariadne cried as she tired to touch the screen.

Arthur looked angry and defiant against those who held him. His mouth was harshly gagged but he stared daggers at Mal.

"Otherwise, I'll kill Arthur, and come after the both of you anyways. Tell my Bishop if she turns herself in, I'll let Arthur go." Mal said.

The video feed cut off abruptly and left Eames and Ariadne in silence.

"She has the ability to do what she says. Arthur wouldn't be the first of her own hit men she's personally killed." Eames explained.  
"I have to turn myself in." Ariadne whispered. The image of Arthur beaten and bloody still clinging to her mind.

"No." Eames said. "Arthur had prepared for this contingency."

"I can't let him die because of me!" Ariadne shouted.

"Arthur _specifically_ said for you not to come after him. Even if he was captured, those are his standing orders and I intend to follow them. I'm taking you to China, where you'll be holding up until we decide what we're going to do." Eames explained.  
"Mal is going to kill him." Ariadne whispered.

"This is a trap; he might already be dead." Eames said coldly.  
"I have to turn myself in." Ariadne said shaking her head.  
"Listen to me." Eames said. "Arthur sacrificed _everything_ to get you to safely. We need to respect that and not have you go back into the belly of the beast."

Ariadne fought with an overwhelming desire to run back to the airport and take the first flight to America.

"Mal, will not let Arthur go. Not even if you turn yourself in." Eames said.  
"Do you think he's still alive?" She asked.  
"I'm not sure." Eames told her. "But if you turn yourself in, you'll both be dead."

**I'm sorry it took so long to update. I've been sick and out of commission. I got out of the habit of writing for a few days. You have to write everyday and on a routine; other wises, it won't get done. You can't take a few days off. **

** Instead, I've been hold up in bed with my Netflix library. Watching four seasons of "Breaking Bad" and "The Office". **

** But I also saw "Memento" which was pretty good. Very "Inception" vibe to it. Classic Nolan. I'm actually kinda surprised JGL wasn't in it. It's his kind of movie. **

** It's given me a new idea for an A&A story, so we shall see. **


	11. Chapter 11

11.

~ "_Now boarding express flight to San Francisco._" came a cheery voice over the intercom.

Ariadne secured her travel bag over one shoulder and walked nervously up to the counter. She handed the clerk her real passport and a hastily bought ticket. The woman barely giving it a glance before she was waived through.

Ariadne took a breath for courage. When this plane landed, she would be discreetly arrested and taken to Mal. Hopefully, Arthur would still be alive, and Mal would let him go.

Hopefully Mr. Eames wouldn't be too angry with her. She had slipped out of the bunker style pent house after he had gone to sleep. She guessed he most likely didn't normally sleep so heavily, which is why she had taken it upon herself to drug him.

Cobb, as well as their chemist, had taught her all about drugs that could put someone to sleep. It was useful when they had to invade someone's dreams. Drugging was a simple matter of slipping a small dose of an odorless, tasteless drop into Eames' drink. He was snoring on the couch in under half an hour.

She hoped she was doing the right thing; as there was no turning back now. She hoped Arthur did have a way out. Her plan was dangerous enough.

~ Arthur _didn't_ have a way out. He knew Mal might not believe his little ploy about Ariadne being dead. He took the risk anyway to buy the Bishop more time.

It was alright; Eames would keep Ariadne safely hidden.

Arthur unscrewed the light bulb from overhead; his cell plunging into darkness. It was the third time he had unscrewed and broke the bulb. It upset his guards to have to walk by the small cell where he was being kept and not be able to see the prisoner inside.

Arthur smiled to himself as he covered the bulb with his pillow and crushed the fragile glass.

The guards had taken away his shoes and his socks as a way to punish him. No doubt, they would take his pillow next.

Arthur deserved all his punishments. He had broken their light bulbs and sent the guards running to replace them all night. He stayed in the corners of his cell where they couldn't see him right away and wouldn't shout out when they did head count. Making them come onto the cell and yell as he laughed at them.

All this made his guards very upset, but was something Arthur found amusing. He had learned in the military that if he was ever captured, he must _always_ resist. He must never allow his captures to think they had the advantage.

He waited in the darkness and enjoyed the feeling of isolation it gave him. No one could look in and see him right now. He was alone.

He thought about Ariadne. The frightened, beautiful face that came into his world for only one day. One day was all it took. He gave up everything to protect her. He most likely wouldn't make it out of Mal's clutches alive. SHADE didn't handle treason very well.

In the darkness, he could almost pretend Ariadne was with him. Maybe laying on the little cot beside him. Asking him to come to bed.

"They tell me you keep breaking the light bulbs." Mal said as a beam of light cut into Arthur's cell.

Arthur blinked at the offensive invasion. Mal was shinning the high intensity light right into his eyes; blinding him.

"I've already told you, Mal." Arthur grumbled. "I don't know where Ariadne is."

"If I was a betting woman," Mal said lazily as she opened his cell door. "I'm guessing she's with Mr. Eames right now."

Arthur stood and stepped away from his encroaching enemy.

"You never got along with Eames on a personal basis. But the two of you were always good on the job. You always had each others back when things got really bad. When he defected, I half expected you to follow. Now I see things more clearly; you helped him escape." She purred.

Her high heels were clicking on the cement floor. Making Arthur think of a hunter stalking it's prey.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Arthur laughed.

Suddenly a force, like being hit with a sledge hammer struck his side and knocked the air out of his body.

Arthur fell to his knees and was left gasping. The pain wouldn't let him go. She didn't hit him with something, it wasn't a normal blow.

"Taser." Mal said in answer to his unasked question. She held up the sleek black device and smiled. Arthur was left debilitated in the floor of his cell, gasping for air. The intense electric shock was enough to temporarily cripple him.

"I only want to know one thing, Arthur. You've done hundreds of jobs like this. What was so special about this girl?" Mal asked.

Arthur fought back the pain to glare up at her.

He felt so full of hatred just now, he doubted he could hate anything more.

"I didn't think she deserved to die." he said at last.

"Well, you can't prevent that now." Mal cooed.

Arthur shook his head.

"You'll never find her." he growled.  
"I won't have to." Mal purred as she knelt down.

Arthur flinched away as she whispered in his ear.

"My Bishop just boarded a plane to San Francisco. She'll be mine in a few hours. She's going to turn herself in to save you. Isn't that marvelous?" Mal squeaked with girlish amusement.

Arthur shook his head.

It couldn't be true. Eames would never let Ariadne leave his sight. Arthur's friend had promised he would look after her.

"You're lying." Arthur panted.

"I'm not." Mal said sweetly. "If you don't believe me, I'll bring her to you for one last goodbye, then I'll cut her throat out right in front of you."

Arthur felt a cold fear running in his blood. Mal hadn't asked where Ariadne was, because she already knew.

Arthur found the sudden ability to act. His hand discreetly slipped under his pillow case and his fingers found the broken shards of the light bulb. In the darkness, Mal didn't see his quick, resourceful movements.

Before she could react, Arthur had slashed her pretty face with the broken glass. Deeper then he thought possible.

Mal let out a scream as she fell back and tasered him again. Arthur was sent to the floor as the guards rushed into the cell and started beating him.


	12. Chapter 12

12.

_~ Snow White left the safety of her protectors, and was found by the evil queen. ~_

~ Ariadne wasn't at all surprised to see the two men waiting for her at the airport.

They locked eyes on her right away and instead of trying to hide, she went to them.

"I'm Ariadne, I'm the Bishop." she said in a shaky voice.

The two men were kind to her. Even offering her a trip to the drive through for a soda.

She was too nervous to eat or drink anything.

"Are we going to see Mal?" she asked. The two men didn't respond.

~ The large building they took her to looked like it belonged to some kind of city works department. Ariadne tried to be afraid as she followed the two men inside and down an elevator to her fate.

The basement level was clean and efficient and looked more like a fall out shelter from the fifties, which it most likely was. Something about it struck an odd memory, and a thought came into her mind that she quikly tried to dismiss but couldn't.

_'Echo Street'_ she thought. She wasn't sure why the idea came to her.

"I was expecting more drama from her than this." came a cat like voice she recognized.

Ariadne turned to see the women on the TV in person. Mal, with her natural grace an elegance was in the flesh and Ariadne felt a cold rush of fear wash over her. Like she had fallen into icy water and she forgot to breath.

The white bandage that covered that once pretty face of Mal's was already seeping blood from a deep wound.

Mal seemed to notice her interest in her wounds.

"Curtsey of your little boyfriend, my dear." she said waving a hand at her own face. "May I offer you something to drink? Water or tea perhaps?"

"I'm here to turn myself in. In exchange of this gesture of good faith, I want you to let Arthur go." Ariadne told her.

A pleased little smile perked up Mal's lips.

"Arthur has a contract with us, dear." she said as the two women walked down a long corridor. "That contract is very specific with regard to treason. It is met with swift and brutal punishment."

"Is he dead?" Ariadne asked.

"I don't think so." Mal told her airily. "My he must have been good to you if you're so concerned."

"I want to see him. I've turned myself in, let me see him." Ariadne asked.

"Arthur is indisposed at the moment, Ariadne. I would like you to come with us and we can have a talk about what you did with my husband." Mal said.

"I never slept with your husband. We can have all the girl talk you want," she took a deep breath. "After I see Arthur."

~ In a cell down another lonely corridor, Ariadne saw her protector lying on a cot with no mattress.

"He hasn't behaved himself." Mal explained as Arthur's back was to them. His face to the wall. "We've had to take certain privileges away."

"Arthur?" Ariadne whispered.

She saw his body jump and her protector roll out of his uncomfortable looking bed.

She gasped and took a step back at the sight of the bruising to his face.

"Ariadne." he said gravely.

"Yes, she turned herself in hoping to buy your freedom." Mal said as Arthur stood and Ariadne was soon in his arms. Her hands carefully touching the swollen split lip. The darkening black eye.

"Ariadne, why did you do this? You were safe." he whispered to her.

"_You _weren't!" she hissed.

The pair realized Mal was still in the room.

"Oh don't mind me, children. I'll be back with a first aide kit and we can talk later." she said with a horrible smile at Ariadne.

As soon as the door was closed, Arthur seemed to focus on Ariadne entirely.

"Did they hurt you? When they brought you in?" he demanded.

"No." she whispered as she tried to touch his bruised face. "Arthur, I'm sorry. I'm going to convince Mal to let you go."

"She won't let me go, Ariadne." Arthur fumed. "I've betrayed her and she will never tolerate that. How did you escape from Eames? I told him to watch you like a hawk."

"I drugged him." Ariadne admitted and smiled weakly. "With the compound. I left him snoring on the couch."

Arthur was shaking his head. A sort of pent up anger at her boiling up.

"Arthur, I'm sorry. Mal sent us a video of them hurting you. I knew if I turned myself in, they would let you go. You did all this to help me, but we could never run forever." she whispered worriedly.

"Ariadne, I was willing to risk everything to keep you safe. I knew, when I put you on that plane to Eames, Mal might not buy it. Might not believe you were dead. I knew I would never see you again." he whispered as his lips kissed hers.

"Why?" she sobbed. "Why did you even help me? If you had just done your job, you would be fine."

She wept on his shoulder.

"I saw you, saw how scared you were, I couldn't do that to you." he told her as her held her safely in his arms.

"Arthur, is there a way out for us?" she whispered in his ear as they both heard a far away door opening and footsteps coming back. "If I tell Mal what she want's to know, will she let us go?" she asked.

Arthur looked worriedly at the cell door.

"She will kill us both." he told her as Mal opened the door.

~ Ariadne was allowed to doctor Arthur's wounds in front of the guard. The lovers not able to talk more intimately as they were now being wachedt.

Soon enough, Mal returned to them.

"If you tell me everything, I'll let him go." Mal said to Ariadne as she was hugging Arthur goodbye.

"I don't believe you." Ariadne said and tried not to cry.

"Very well. Kill him." she said to the guard.

"NO!" Ariadne screamed as the guard knocked Arthur to his knees and held his riffle at her protector's temple.

"Where is Cobb?" Mal demanded.

"Mombasa!" Ariadne told her as all she could think of was the rifle barrel at Arthur's head.

"He would never go there. You're lying!" Mal raged as the guard kept his aim at Arthur's head.

"No, it was the plan. He knew you would never go there, Cobol has their headquarters there. We've been working with them for years to undermine you. Cobb's in Mombasa, he's at 52 Echo Street." Ariadne said.

"If you're lying, I will kill him." Mal told her as the guard released Arthur and kicked him hard in the ribs.

"Arthur!" Ariadne cried as her lover doubled over in pain on the dirty floor.

"Leave them together." Mal said to the guard. "I'm nothing if not kind."

~ Alone in the dark, Ariadne felt his ribs and he hissed in pain.

"Broken rib." she told him and looked sympathetically at him, although the darkness hid them from even each other.

She helped him to the uncomfortable cot and they both managed to curl up together, Arthur with his broken ribs trying not to cry from the pain.

"Is Cobb really in Mombasa?" Arthur asked weakly.

"Yes." Ariadne told him.

"You've just sold him out. Mal will kill us anyway." Arthur said.

Ariadne gave a little smile, as they snuggled closer together in the darkness.

"They may be listening, Arthur." she whispered in his ear. "Go to sleep."


	13. Chapter 13

13.

_~ With the kiss of the handsome prince, Snow White awoke ~_

~ Arthur woke up cold and alone. His cell was empty and the girl he sacrificed everything to protect, was missing.

"Ariadne?" he moan sleepily as his ribs bit him harshly.

"Arthur?" came a voice that sounded far away. "Get up, I found a way out."

He let out a loud groan as he tried to climb off his cot. The cell was cold and dark as the light from the open door caught the outline of her form.

"How?" he blinked at the brightness. "How did you unlock the door?"

"She didn't have to, Arthur." came a strong, knowledgeable voice.

The light in the cell grew brighter and Arthur knew he must be seeing things when Cobb stepped into the cell.

"Cobb?" Arthur question. "Mal found you."

"No, she didn't." Cobb said wisely as he sat down in a chair next to Arthur.

The hit man blinked as he looked around the room. What was once a miserable cell, was now an opulent dining room. He realized suddenly his ribs were no longer hurting and he wasn't cold.

"What's happening?" Arthur asked looking wildly around and spotting Ariadne in the corner. She was wearing a simple black shift dress and looked perfectly fine. Nothing like the scared girl he had fallen for.

"You'll forgive us this invasion, Arthur. When Ariadne made contact and said you could be trusted, I had to know for sure." Cobb said.

"What are you talking about?" Arthur said. His mind fuzzy.

"Trouble concentrating?" Cobb asked. "It's a side effect of the compound. Ariadne didn't intend to find herself caught by you. But when you didn't take her to Mal, when you tried to protect her, she called me and said you would be worth cultivating."

"Cultivating." Arthur repeated. "You want me on your team?"

"Our team." Cobb clarified. "Mr. Eames and Ariadne work for me."

"She claimed you went out of your way to help her escape my ex wife and that you could be trusted. I wasn't sure. I can never be too careful when it comes to trusting people, so I brought you into the dream and set up a scenario to see what you would do. What you both would do." Cobb said nodding to Ariadne who stepped out of her corner.

"I didn't remember the mission until I was in the bunker. Then I remembered Eco Street." she said weakly.

"Eco street, that's where she told Mal you were." Arthur said.

"Eco street is a post hypnotic suggestion. It causes lucid dreaming, in this case, you and Ariadne had no idea you were both in a dream till just now." Cobb explained.

"We're not dreaming." Arthur said.

"Yes, we are." Ariadne assured him. "We went under right after you made arrangements with Yuseff and Mr. Eames to get me out of the country."

"After we had sex, you drugged me and invaded my dreams?" Arthur asked.

Cobb gave her a curious look, and she blushed hard. Clearly, she hadn't told Cobb everything.

"I wanted to prove to Cobb that you could be trusted. When you caught me, I was sure I was dead. I wasn't able to contact Cobb with you... so... close, so I had to drug you." she explained.

"I was able to come to Jerusalem and the three of us went into your dreams to find out what your intentions were." Cobb explained.

"You used me, to help you break into my own subconscious?" Arthur accused.

He couldn't help but be impressed. No wonder Mal was so angry at Cobb, he really was the best extractor.

"We had to know you really were going to help her and not just keep her pacified until you turned her over to Mal." Cobb said.

"My capture, her going to Eames... Mal, those weren't real?" Arthur asked.

"I really was on the run from SHADE." she told him. "It took a while to re-contact the remainder of my team."

"So what's real and what isn't?" he spat harshly.

"The last thing we did in the real world was move to the second safe house. We're still waiting for transit papers from Yuseff." Ariadne explained.

He nodded. Thankful they really were intimate before this madness started.

"So what happens now?" Arthur asked.

"It's up to you." Cobb told him. "Now that we know you can be trusted, we can bring you into our team. We need a good man to run point and based on what you did to bring Ariadne in and keep her safe, I think you're our man. I wanted to get you out before, but I wasn't sure I could trust you. You were only loyal to Mal." Cobb said.

"If I say no?" Arthur asked.

Ariadne looked worriedly at Cobb.

"Then you will wake up in the hotel room alone. Ariadne, Eames and I will be on the run." Cobb explained.

"Mal will never stop looking for you." Arthur sighed.

"You were willing to risk Mal's wrath by saving her." Cobb nodded at Ariadne. "A girl you never met."

"Arthur, come with us." Ariadne whispered. "We can dream together. Cobb has done things in dreams you can't imagine."

Arthur let his thoughts go to a life with Ariadne. A life of working with Cobb in dreams. They would dream together and travel the world. But always, always there would be the dark specter of Mal. They would never be truly free as long as she hunted them.

"I didn't turn you into Mal, because I knew you could never be on the run by yourself." Arthur explained.

"Right." Ariadne said and took his hand. Arthur reveled in the feel of her skin. Even in a dream, she was soft to the touch.

"If you go with Cobb, you'll be safe again. He can protect you better." Arthur told her.

"You could protect all of us, Arthur." Cobb insisted as Ariadne and Arthur rested their foreheads together.

"You're not coming with us, are you?" Ariadne whispered to him.

"No." Arthur said. "I'll go back to the states; tell Mal I lost you. She'll look for a while, but I can lay a dummy trail."

"Arthur, we want you to come with us." Ariadne pleaded.

"If I go with you, Mal will hunt us forever. If I stay away, I can keep her at bay, even feed her false information." Arthur said as Cobb moved away from them to give them some privacy.

"Arthur, please." Ariadne asked. "What do I have to do to change your mind?"

Arthur gave her a pleased little smile as he laced his fingers with hers and she blushed even harder.

"You can stay safe." he said at last. "It's all I ever want for you. The moment I saw you, I wanted you safe. It's why I couldn't turn you over to her, I liked keeping you safe too much. It was a nice change of pace for me."

"Come with me, and you can keep me safe forever." Ariadne whispered. "I'll even let you cuff me to the bed so I won't get away." she whispered in his ear and they both exchanged heated, secretive smiles.

"Tempting." he laughed.

His face was suddenly serious again.

"The best way I can keep you safe is to keep you off of Mal's radar. The only way to do that would be on the inside." Arthur told her as she was kissing him.

"Arthur, do you hear music? It's time to wake up. You'll be alone in that hotel room if you don't say yes right now." Ariadne whispered.

"It's not because I don't want to be with you." he told her. "I want you. I will find you again." he told her as the faint music grew louder and the dream started to collapse.

~ Arthur awoke to his phone ringing and was too groggy to answer it before it went to voice mail.

He remembered every detail of the dream as he roused himself out of bed in the shabby hotel room in Jerusalem. The same bed he had made love to the Bishop in was neatly made as he had obviously slept on top of the covers.

Ariadne was gone and, just like she promised, he was alone.

Uselessly, he looked around the room for her bags or any evidence she was there. Any clue at all that she was real. Only the scarf she used to cover her head was left on the chair.

He quickly picked it up and breathed deeply. The faint smell of her shampoo reaching him as a note fell out of the folds.

He stooped over to pick it up and saw her girlish handwriting.

_Arthur, _

_ If you ever change your mind..._

_ Ariadne_

There was a phone number and instructions to leave a voice message.

Arthur quickly memorized it and then burned the note. His cell phone was ringing again and he effortlessly hid her scarf before taking Mal's call.

"Do you have the Bishop?" Mal demanded. "It's been a week since you checked in!"

"She must be better than we thought." Arthur told her coldly. His calm demeanor coming back. "I thought for sure she would be here, but I think she's laid a dummy trail, or reconnected with a team member."

"Cobb's behind this, I know he is!" Mal fumed.

"Maybe." Arthur conceded. "I don't have any more leads, I need to come back in."

"Fine." Mal said. "We can explore our options when you get here."

Arthur wasn't shocked when she hung up on him.

~ Back in his immaculate apartment with it's minimalist decor, Arthur carefully packed her scarf away in his wall safe along with her file and photograph. He stole one last look at her face. His mind working hard to memorize everything, before locking her away.

He would keep her safe, by letting her go. Mal would never stop hunting them, but he could mislead the huntress. Give her false information and buy Ariadne's freedom.

That was what he could do for her, if he couldn't be with her.

~ Ariadne sat on a plane across from Cobb and Eames.

"For what it's worth." Cobb sighed as the three of them were headed to their next undisclosed location. "I think Arthur made the right call."

"I don't." Ariadne sighed. "He might get caught and then Mal will kill him."

"Arthur knows how to work around Mal." Eames said. "He's done it for years. Besides, this might not be forever. He might still want to come with us."

"For now he's a double agent. He's in danger." Ariadne said sadly.

"Arthur knows what he's doing; we have to trust him." Cobb said sagely.

"I've know Arthur for years. He even helped me defect from SHADE. He'll be alright." Eames assured her.

Ariadne didn't respond as she watched the clouds out the window of the plane. She never heard Eames' comment on how Arthur had never turned on a target until now.

**_~ END ~_**

**_There might be another story to go along with this. A part 2 maybe. Right now I'm working on a story that is a long over due fan request. _**


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